Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Non-Voters Aren’t Lazy – They Just Value Their Time

Despite all the
fanfare surrounding the recently held local government elections the
Elections and Boundaries Commission (EBC) reported that there was only a 26%
voter turnout. Although unable to vouch for the veracity of the statistic since
I remain doubtful that the EBC is thoroughly and painstakingly updating and
verifying the total voters list, I for one was heartened by what most described
as the unfortunate low turnout levels.

The low
engagement in the political song and dance suggests an increasing resignation to a futile political process by citizens, which at the
end of the day has no real positive impact on their lives. For coming to this
realization non-voters should be congratulated.

Will one
subset of the country feel like they benefited as a result of the outcome
of elections? Sure. However most of the real beneficiaries represent the politically
connected and their families, not the average citizen who has to independently
earn an honest living on a daily basis to survive.

Even
those on the low end of the totem pole who interpret a win for their preferred
candidate to mean a greater likelihood of favourable hand-outs are losers in the
long run since they have become mere pawns in a vicious vortex that only serves
the political class and regrettably perpetuates a destructive dependency
syndrome.

Moreover, non-voters should be acknowledged for their healthy scepticism and negative
feelings about politicians and state institutions that all say the same things,
make the same promises but only serve the people to the extent it serves their
political ambitions. On coming to this epiphany withdrawing ones consent and
abstaining from an electoral gimmick may appear to be the only moral option.

There
remains a simple reason why politicians (red, yellow or green), academics, the
media and other politically connected establishments aggressively promote
voting as a citizen’s civic duty – it validates the need for their existence
and tacitly justifies their power and rulership over the masses even to the country's ultimate detriment.

The
size, scope and role of the T&T government (now at 41 ministries) that
proposes to take care of everyone from cradle to grave is now so distorted that
unless the state's role and expectations of the state are curbed
continued moral and economic depravity will ensue unabated.

Total Page Views

Search TrinbagoViews

About the Editor

The editor is a Kingdom believer, loving husband, father and business owner.

He attained a Bachelors in Finance and Economics at the University of Western Ontario in Canada.

After graduating he worked in the Canadian securities industry while residing in Burlington, Ontario, and has completed the Canadian Securities Course –the Canadian investment course that qualifies graduates to sell and deal in financial products in Canada.

He currently resides in Trinidad and makes his living in the T&T Energy Sector. Contact The Editor